ORMOND BEACH, Fla -- A couple of young men left plenty of clues for Volusia County Sheriff's deputies to follow when they burst into an 86-year-old woman's home near Ormond Beach Monday night, ransacked the place and finally left with jewelry and credit cards in hand, an agency spokesman said.
No one was injured during the robbery. The woman told responding deputies that the robbers, who were armed with knives, were careful to not leave fingerprints.
On the other hand, one robber waited until after he was in the house to cover his face, and the victim heard one call the other by his name. Once the men left, they went to a convenience store to use one of the stolen credit cards but were thwarted when the clerk asked for identification.
Investigators quickly connected the dots and made three arrests shortly after midnight.
Evelyn Carney heard a knock on her front door, at 1906 Sunny Palm Drive, just before 9 p.m. Thinking it would be a neighbor, she opened the door only to find two men armed with knives who pushed their way inside.
Carney picked up the phone to call for help, but the robbers took it from her. They then proceeded to search every room of the house, looking for money they said Carney's granddaughter owed them. One man had his face covered when he walked in, but the other waited a bit before finally covering up with a bandana. As they searched, Carney heard one call the other by his name: Zach.
After about half an hour a neighbor walked in through the front door, witnessing the two men and the ransacked home. He asked if the granddaughter was home, and the robbers said no.
The neighbor quickly left, and the robbers then also took off about a minute later. But the neighbor saw them get into a small, white, extended cab pickup truck, possibly a Toyota Tacoma.
At about 11:30 p.m., a clerk at a Holly Hill convenience store reported that someone had attempted to use a credit card, but couldn't produce identification when asked. The suspicious man then got into a truck similar to the one used during the robbery.
"Deputies investigating the robbery knew that the victim's granddaughter had been associated with someone named Zach in the past," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said. "A search through Sheriff's Office records revealed that Zachary Game had been issued a traffic citation earlier in the month while driving a Toyota Tacoma. This then led investigators to Game's trailer at 1320 Hand Ave. shortly after midnight where they found his truck parked."
"Deputies investigating the robbery knew that the victim's granddaughter had been associated with someone named Zach in the past," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said. "A search through Sheriff's Office records revealed that Zachary Game had been issued a traffic citation earlier in the month while driving a Toyota Tacoma. This then led investigators to Game's trailer at 1320 Hand Ave. shortly after midnight where they found his truck parked."
Game was found in a neighboring trailer along with Jeromy Murphy and Ian Martin, Haught said. The convenience store clerk was brought by and he positively identified all three as being present when they attempted to use the stolen credit card. The three later confessed to their roles in the robbery, Haught said.
Game, 19; Murphy, 20, of Casselberry; and Martin, 19, of Palm Coast were charged with armed home invasion robbery, false imprisonment, fraudulent use of a credit card, aggravated assault on a person 65 years of age or older and grand theft. They were transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.